Enzo Ferrari, who died aged 90 in 1988, is buried in a cemetery in Modena

A criminal gang had been plotting to steal the body of Formula One racing pioneer Enzo Ferrari and demand a ransom from his relatives, police in Italy have said.

Detectives in Sardinia said they uncovered the plot, being hatched by a criminal gang, on Tuesday.

Officers said they had stumbled across the plot while investigating a group of 30 or so crooks who were involved in drug and arms trafficking on the Italian island.

The gang hatched the plan while exploring other cash-making ideas, police said.

They had conspired to steal the mortal remains of the racing driver - who founded the Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team and prancing horse brand before dying - and demand money from his family for the body's safe return.

They had plotted in detail how to steal the coffin, hide it, and contact the family, police said.

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Ferrari, who died aged 90 in 1988, is buried in a cemetery in Modena, behind a plate of marble in a large chapel secured by a heavy iron gate.

Some 300 officers armed with more than 30 arrest warrants clapped the gang members in cuffs early Tuesday morning, police said.

Italy is no stranger to body-abduction cases. Among the most famous was the theft in 1992 of the body of four-year-old Raffaele Bagni - the son of a former football player - a month after his death in a car accident.

The 1978 theft Charlie Chaplin's coffin in Switzerland by a Polish and Bulgarian grave robber was also inspired by similar Italian cases.